Spring susbension for vehicles



Sept. 27,1921. H P 43,811

SPRING SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES Filed April 25, 192

I v MA by I 573% ATT RN Yii Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

iUNEITZED PA OFFICE.

RHENRY -WE B'IB-HYDE', LOF-LNORTH COHASSET, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HYDE LENGINEERINGLCOMPANY, 10F BOSTOILJMASSACI-IUS-ETTS, A CORPORATION OF 'MAS- SLAZCHUSET-ISS.

LSBRINGMSUSiZENSION ilOR VEHICLES.

. Ap'plication filed ApriL23, 1924. .Seri a1 11o. 708,431.

This invention relates -to .vehicle spring suspensions ofthe ,general type shown and described. inmy prionapplication for. Letters Patent,-filed' September. 29, 1921, Serial No. 50%,160, patented- January .27, 1925, No. 1, 7 s, V a a a 1 As explained in said, prior application, the invention I therein shown consists primarily in providingthe vehicle with longitudinal springs :or spring reaches. connected at. their ends either directlyorindirectly, with the axles, ,anddin supporting the body on the springireaches-intermediate the-ends of the latter in .s-uch a a manner :as to ,7 permit said body to EEOCk freely, with respect to r and independently of the vreaches, upon ahorizontal, itransverse axis, so that tilting or rocking of 'the reaches,- caused by a vertical movement. of either the-front or rear wheels and the axle carried thereby, will not be transmitted to the body land -will not tend to tip or pitch the same, said body being permitted, rockingzabout its axis with respect-to the reaches,.to maintain its sub- .stantiallyihorizpntal position, its only movement beingslight vertical one in a sub stantially rectilinear direction.

IIn another application, Q filed. August 24, 1923,: Serial? No. 659,096, is, shown. and described aform of springvsuspensioniof the general type ofi that aboveref'erred to wherein rvertical .movement of an .,.axl'e at either end-- of the vehicle is accompaniedby the application ofjihalanced vertical forces to vthedood y at both sides of,the=center of gravity 1 thereof, said "body being therefore heldagainst;pitching :under the influence of :VertiCal I shocks l resulting in: a rocking of the. reaches in either direction, and wherein balancing springs are so arranged as to provide spring supports for tl16 bddy be ,tween the ,end thereof and the rocking or pivotallaxis,-soias further to "stabilize the bodyand .also, to'a certain: degree, to coun- :teract the forcesltending to move the'body vertically'in a rectilinear direction, thereby resistingnnovementof the, body of any char- .iacter,.r,and providing for a quite complete absorption of theroad shocks by the resilient .Vportionso'fthe suspension. I I j "The present invention has for-its object :to provide 1 a modification of the construction shown in my application last above 7 re- -ferred to,.. in vwhich modification the intermediate spring supports for the body are afforded by the spring reaches themselves instead of'by the use of special balancing springs.

This and otherobjects' of the invention, together with means whereby the same may be carried into efi ect, will'best be understoodfrom the following description of one form or embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. '1 is a side elevation of a suspension constructe'din accordance with theinvention. l I Fig. 2 is aplan view thereof, the body frame being partly broken away in-order to show theparts of the suspension beneath the same.

The principle of operation of a spring suspension of the generalitype of vthat to 5%,160. Forthe purposes of the pres'ent description 'this principle ,may be briefly outlined as'follows:

' VIn' theordinary' vehicle, whether provided i with elliptical, semi-elliptical, or cantilever springs, the springs are, in effect, rigidly secured to the body or frame, and any shock orf'blow on'a wheel, dueto unevenness in theroad,which cansesfthe wheel to rise or fall suddenly {is communicated directly to the bodysubstantially atthe end'srof the latter so as to I produce" the maximum "gy'r'atoryefiect. 1

In the type of spring'suspension to which the present invention relates, on the contrary, iflthe front wheel, for example, be raised, owing to an unevenness in the road, the tendency is for the spring reach'to turn about'the pivot afforded by the rocker on which" the'body' is supported, but not to rock the body. It'thust'ends to swing the rear end ofthe reach and rear axle downward about thepivot, so that the chief'e'ffect of when the rear wheelgoes over an obstructionior drops into a hole," the front spring member and front wheel receive the major part of the reaction andthe body is af- 'fected 'relati'vely little. In any'event, any "force, or theresultant of'such'forces as may be transmitted to" the body as a result of the "rocking of the "reaches, is applied to the body substantially at the center of gravity thereof, so that there is no gyratory force acting upon the body eccentric to its center of gravity. The effect on the body is merely to lift the pivot, and consequently the body, vertically to a slight extent, and not. to rock said body from front to back, so that the body is not given any pitching motion. The action described is permitted by the pivotal or rocking connection between the body and the spring reaches. If there were a rigid connection at this point, the blow would give the body an entirely different move ment and would not be absorbed by the opposite end of the spring reach.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown therein a pair of spring reaches to which the body frame-1O is connected by means of coaxial pivots 11 interposed between brackets 12 and 13 secured to said body and reaches respectively, the axis of said pivots being disposed forward of the center of gravity of the body, and the f0rward end of said body being free. Each of the spring reaches is composed of a substantially rigid beam 14 having leaf spring extensions 15 and 16 at its forward and rear ends respectively. The forward spring extensions '15 are bolted or otherwise secured at their forward ends to the front axle 17 of the vehicle. Supported intermediate their ends by hangers 18 from the rear axle 19 of the vehicle are substantially semielliptical springs 20 connected at their outer or rear ends by shackles 21 with the rear end of the body frame 10. At their inner or forward ends, the springs 20 are pivotally connected to brackets 22 secured to the spring extensions 16 of the respective reaches. The brackets 22 are secured to the spring extensions 16 at points between the beams 14: and the outer or rear ends of said extensions, which are continued beyond said brackets 22 and connected by shackles 23 with the body frame 10 rearwardly of the center of gravity of the latter.

Then the rear axle 19 is raised, upward forces are applied to the body at opposite sides of the center of gravity thereof through I the pivots 11 and shackles 21, the moments of which forces are balanced about the center of gravity so as not to rock the body, as more fully explained in application Serial No. 504,160 above referred to. l Vhen the front axle 17 is raised, the forward end of the body is lifted by the pivots 11, the rear ends of the reaches being at the same time swung downwardly about said pivots, thereby, through the springs 20 acting as levers fulcrunied on the axles 20, exerting an upward force upon the rear end of the body also tending to prevent pitching thereof, as more fully explained in another application, filed May 28, 1923, Serial No. 64t1,983. The portions of the spring extensions 16 between with the the brackets 22 and shackles 23 act as balancing springs to compensate for varying loads in the tonneau, theprinciple being the 7 same as in the construction shown and described in application Serial No. 641,938, above referred to, wherein quarter elliptic springs fastened to the frame act at the pivotal points between the spring extensions of the reaches and the springs supported by the axle. The relative length of the two halves of each of the springs 20 is so proportioned, in relation to the length of that portion of the corresponding spring reach between the fulcrum 11 and bracket 22, that the end of the spring extension 16 exerts a downward force on the body when the tonneau is light and an upward force on the body when the tonneauis fully loaded, thus compensating for the variation in load. The parts are so designed that the moments of the vertical forces transmitted to the body through the connections 11, 21 and 23 are substantially balanced about the center of gravity of the body, while the rear ends of the spring extensions 16 of the reaches beyond the shackles 22 comprise only one or two leaves and therefore constitute relatively light springs, so that the additional connections 23 between the body and the reaches do not in any way interfere with the operation of the suspension in accordance general principles first above outlined. i J

In this specification, the phrase spring reaches is employed as a comprehensive term to denote longitudinal members through which the body is supported from the axles, and composed wholly or in part of springs. The term, therefore,'is to be taken as including a unitary or continuous spring as well as a reach composed of a substantially rigid beam to the ends of which'are attached springs. It will be understood that when the spring reach is constructed as last described, and as hereinishown, the connection l I) I between the beam and the springs is a rigid one in the sense that there is no pivotal or other movable connection at this point;

The words rear, front, and similar expressions are herein used as convenient illustrative terms, it being obvious that, al-' though the construction-shown is preferred for most purposes, the suspension might'be oppositely disposed, the pivotal connection between the body and the reaches being in the rear instead of in front of the center of gravity of the body, and the other parts being correspondingly arranged. These and other, modifications of the construction shown will, however, be readily apparent to those skilled in the art without further description in, detail.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1 In a vehicle having a body and axles, a

spring suspension comprising a pair of spring reaches each connected wlth both of sand axles, and a connection between sald reaches and the body upon which the latter ends and connected at one end to the body, and a semi-elliptical spring supported by an axle and connected at its outer end to the body and at its inner end to said spring member.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

-HENRY WEBB HYDE. 

